Auto-ID technology relates generally to using the Internet to track goods in a manufacturing process and/or supply chain (e.g. from manufacturer to distributor to point of sale location). One contemplated infrastructure for implementing the Auto-ID technology to transport information relating to physical objects via the Internet includes four major components: 1) electronic tags; 2) an electronic product code (EPC); 3) an object naming service (ONS); and 4) a physical markup language (PML).
An electronic tag typically is in the form of a small chip that is affixed to or otherwise integrated with an item to be tracked. Such tags may be implemented using a family of technologies that facilitate the transfer of data wirelessly between tagged objects or items and electronic readers. For example, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags have small radio antennas which are capable of transmitting data over a short range. Such RFID tags, when coupled to an RF reader network, facilitate tracking and identification of tagged items from place to place throughout all or a portion of a manufacturing process or supply chain/distribution network.
To uniquely identify tagged objects, a naming system referred to as the electronic product code (EPC) has been developed. The EPC was created to accommodate current and future naming methods, and is intended to be universally and globally accepted as a means to link physical objects to a computer network and to serve as an efficient information reference. A unique EPC assigned to an item to be tracked typically is “burned” into a memory/storage device of an RFID tag as a fixed binary number. Currently, EPCs typically are either 64 or 96 bits long. The EPC bit string is intended to uniquely identify an item by encoding the manufacturer, the product type, and the product serial number, for example.
It should be appreciated that the EPC in the RFID tag does not change as the item to which the tag is affixed goes through a manufacturing process and/or a supply chain; in particular, the RFID tag is designed to send a representation of the EPC as a fixed length and fixed content “information payload” to an RF reader or receiver. When queried (i.e., when passing an RF reader), the RFID tag wirelessly transmits a representation of the EPC to the reader, which in turn passes the received information on to one or more other processing devices for decoding the received information and subsequent routing. In the current art, components such as the savant, on object naming service (ONS) and PML server decode the tag.
The object naming service (ONS) is the “glue” which links the electronic product code (EPC) with one or more associated data files containing information relating to the tagged item. More specifically, the ONS is an automated networking service which, when given an EPC, returns one or more network addresses at which one or more data files corresponding to the tagged item may be located. In a typical system configuration, the ONS may be accessed by a computer that is local to the RF reader (and which provides user access to the system). The ONS is based on the concept of the standard domain naming service (DNS) used to identify website addresses corresponding to website names. For example, in a manner similar to that employed by the DNS, the ONS parses the EPC to decode particular information in specific fields of the EPC (e.g., the manufacturer ID, as shown in FIG. 1) so as to return (e.g., to a processor local to the RF reader) the appropriate address(es) where data is located.
The physical markup language (PML) is a standardized language protocol in which network information about physical objects is written. PML essentially is an XML-based language for databasing information about physical objects, and is designed to standardize descriptions of physical objects for use by both humans and machines. In one aspect, PML serves as a common base for software applications, data storage and analytical tools for industry and commerce. Once the ONS decodes an EPC as discussed above, it returns (e.g., to a local processor) one or more address(es) to a PML server which includes one or more databases in which are stored one or more files containing information regarding the tagged item. The local processor then may forward all or part of the EPC to the PML server, which in turn further processes the EPC to access the information in the database(s) regarding the tagged item. The PML server provides a standardized data output of the information using PML, which typically is forwarded back to the location of the RF reader (e.g., the local processor) for user analysis.
Additional details of the Auto-ID technology may be found in the following disclosures, each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference:
“The Electronic Product Code (EPC), A Naming Scheme for Physical Objects,” David L. Brock, MIT Auto-ID Center White Paper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building 3, 449G, Cambridge, Mass. 02139-4307, published Jan. 1, 2001;
“The Compact Electronic Product Code, a 64-bit Representation of the Electronic Product Code,” David L. Brock, MIT Auto-ID Center White Paper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building 3, 449G, Cambridge, Mass. 02139-4307, published Nov. 1, 2001;
“The Virtual Electronic Product Code,” David L. Brock, MIT Auto-ID Center White Paper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building 3, 449G, Cambridge, Mass. 02139-4307, published Feb. 1, 2002;
“The Object Name Service, Version 0.5 (Beta),” Oat Systems and MIT Auto-ID Center White Paper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building 3, 449G, Cambridge, Mass. 02139-4307, published Feb. 1, 2002;
“The Savant, Version 0.1 (Alpha),” Oat Systems and MIT Auto-ID Center White Paper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building 3, 449G, Cambridge, Mass. 02139-4307, published Feb. 1, 2002; and
“On the design A Global Unique Identification Scheme,” Daniel W. Engels, MIT Auto-ID Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building 3, 449G, Cambridge, Mass. 02139-4307, published Jun. 1, 2002.